by Sam Cheever
I gasped and he grinned. “Yeah,” I told him, shaking my head, “We will be talking later.”
The thunderous sound of the waterspouts roared behind me, I turned to find a wall of water rising just before the spouts, heading directly toward us.
Damian grabbed me around the waist and pulled me off my feet, yanking me backward as the wall of water crashed into the spot where we’d been standing, creating a five-foot-deep crater in the sand from the force.
The spouts hit the beach, spinning sand into the air that sliced and scoured our skin. I ducked, trying to hide my face from the sand-embedded wind.
Then the wind died down and I uncovered my face. Damian moved in front of me, holding the sword out. He lifted his head and looked at the two horrible creatures standing there.
I screamed, “No!” and lunged toward him, hoping to cover his face before he looked directly into their eyes.
Damian caught my hand and shoved me behind him. Amazingly, he didn’t turn to stone.
“Where is she, Guardian?”
Guardian?
Damian released me to move his chain-covered fist forward again. He was obviously ready for them to attack.
“You can all be together again, Medusa. All you need to do is return to Olympus with me.”
I peered around him, taking care to keep my eyes cast downward, so I was looking only at their feet and legs.
The legs were the same seaweed green as the scales on their chests and were covered in long, coarse hair, ending in wide feet with elongated metal claws curving from them.
The garbage dump aroma I remembered from before was now “enhanced” by the scent of rotting seaweed and dead fish.
“We’re tired of being prisoners, Guardian. Just give us our sister and we’ll go, letting you and the pretty Cupid live.”
Damian stiffened slightly and I realized he hadn’t known what I was. Not for sure anyway.
I wondered if it would matter to him.
Then I did a mental head smack. Not exactly the time to be thinking about romantic relationships.
“Can’t do that, Medusa. You and your sisters won’t behave…you’ve proven that here on Earth.”
“Bawww! These cattle are not important! We’ve left the gods and goddesses alone.”
“These ‘cattle’ as you call them would beg to differ, Medusa.”
The wind picked up suddenly and the sky roiled above us. “We will never put ourselves under your control again, Guardian!”
Damian lunged forward, slashing his sword at Medusa and swinging the chain toward her sister.
The sisters let out a horrifying scream of rage that was half bird and half enraged female. My instincts told me to duck but I forced my spine to straighten and I pulled my bow forward.
Damian had the chain around one of the horrible creatures and her snakes were attacking him, biting repeatedly at his arm as he jerked the chain in an effort to bring her to the ground at his feet.
Blood ran in rivulets down his muscular arm, dripping into the sand beneath them.
With his other arm he was keeping Medusa and her deadly claws away.
From the number of deep, bloody gouges I saw on his chest I realized he’d had only partial success.
Suddenly Medusa spun away from him with a screech and lifted off the sand with a few powerful beats of her enormous wings. She hung in the air above Damian for a moment, slashing at him with the razor-sharp claws of her feet and then swung upward and away.
Directly toward me.
I barely got my bow up before she struck.
The arrow I’d unleashed embedded itself into one of her wings and she shrieked, slamming her other wing into me and sending me flying several feet. I skidded across the sand and felt the top layer of my skin ripping away along one side.
I nocked another arrow as I slid across the sand.
She was on me again as soon as I stopped, all four sets of claws digging into the sand around me. I managed to wedge the bow between us, the point of the arrow nudging against the hard scales of her chest, as she lowered her head toward me.
I squeezed my eyes tightly shut. The hissing sound coming from her head made my breath lock in my chest. “Get off me or I’ll let this arrow go.”
She laughed. “Pretty, Cupid. You cannot harm one such as I.”
Something cold and dense slithered across my wrist and I jumped, nearly losing my grip on the deadly arrow. I decided my best defense was bravado, false though it might be. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that, Medusa.”
Another snake found my other wrist and I realized what she was doing. Before she could yank the bow from my hands I unleashed the arrow.
An unearthly howl filled the air and lightning blasted the sand above my head. Medusa flew upward, the snakes around my wrists holding tight so that I lifted upward with her.
Her thick body writhed in pain as she pounded her mighty wings to bring us off the sand and warm, frothy blood bathed my face and body as she thrashed.
I risked opening my eyes enough to see where I was and saw that the monster had managed to carry me quite a distance out to sea. The sky above still roiled angrily and below my feet, dark water surged and spun in response.
A second pair of wings pounded the air beside us and I risked a glance in that direction.
Both gorgons were bloodied and torn but they were whole and I was now their prisoner.
I had no idea what had happened to Damian.
Tears stung my eyes as I realized he had to be dead, or at least gravely injured.
I was on my own.
Hours later I was jolted from a semiconscious state when my body was flung to the hard, rocky ground. I rolled several feet before hitting an unforgiving, slimy wall and stopped.
I just lay there, hiding my eyes and hoping they’d kill me fast.
“Athena?”
I kept my face covered with my arms, peering out from under my arm at the huge clawed feet and thick legs crouching there.
“Athena?” The voice was deep and gravelly but had a lilting quality that told me it was a woman’s. Something sharp hit me in the ribs, piercing the skin. I gasped but stayed on the ground, face hidden.
The rock beneath me groaned slightly as the gorgon’s incredible weight settled onto it. Her stench, which had been merely disgusting on the wind-strewn beach, was now an almost physical presence in that sheltered spot, making my stomach rebel violently. I clenched my teeth against the bile that threatened to spill and kept still.
Something touched my hair and I cringed away. I didn’t get far because I was up against the wall.
Her claws tangled in my damp, windblown hair as she caressed me. I shivered with revulsion.
“Such pretty hair, Athena.” She sighed. “I used to have pretty hair, you know. Men came from all over Olympus to touch my golden hair.”
The air sparked and thickened and suddenly dainty feet and slender legs replaced the monster’s legs. “Do you see, Cupid? Do you see how beautiful I am?”
When I didn’t move she grabbed my hair and jerked me off the ground. I squeezed my eyes closed until I felt her nails on my lids. “Open your eyes, girl, or I’ll gouge them out.”
I bit my lip, trying to decide whether it would be better to have my eyes gouged out or be turned to stone.
Medusa laughed. “You’re safe when I take this form, Athena. If not you’d already be dead.”
Now I was curious. I reached up and grabbed her wrist, pulling the strangely soft hand away from my face. Taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes.
I was looking at Megan Megara.
Her perfect pink lips were spread in a grin, showing me straight white teeth. She held a lock of her beautiful red-gold hair in her hand, showing it to me. “This, Athena. This is what I once was.”
I wasn’t sure what to say. So I decided to play along. “What happened?”
She sighed, the madness swimming in her eyes softened in memory. “It was the goddess you were named for, Athena. Sh
e was jealous of me. She changed me into the monster you turn your eyes from in fear and horror.” She took a step closer, grabbing my wrist. Her form wavered until I thought I could see snakes around her head but then she stamped her foot and the snakes settled back into the thick fall of red-gold hair. “I must fight to keep this form, which displeases me greatly.”
Something warm and wet ran down my arm and I looked down to see blood. She’d dug her nails into my skin. I tried to wrench my arm away but she refused to let go. “Why did you bring me here, Medusa? I had nothing to do with Athena’s curse. I promise you I barely know her.”
She laughed, her form slithering away slightly, like a shadow of something horrible overlaying her lithe, beautiful persona. “I am not that stupid, Athena. You are here because Damian Leandar has something I want badly. And I’m counting on his feelings for you to force a trade.”
I shook my head. “He won’t do it. We barely know each other.”
Medusa laughed and it echoed in the chamber as her sister lumbered heavily into the cave, bringing her own special stench with her.
“A man would not allow himself to be killed trying to save a woman he cared nothing for.” The second gorgon’s voice was slightly more feminine than Medusa’s but not by much.
My world spun and tilted. “You killed him?”
Medusa finally released my wrist so she could caress her hair, examining the thick, silky strands as if looking for flaws. “Nay. I need him alive.” She lifted her mad, blue eyes. “For now.” She took a step toward me, grabbing my hair and pulling my head toward her face. I watched in horror as her beautiful form slid away and was replaced by a horrible green face with a coarse beard and snakes for hair.
I barely managed to slam my eyes shut before I caught her gaze.
She laughed, flinging me toward the wall. My head slammed against the slimy rock and I slid bonelessly toward the ground.
The last thing I heard before succumbing to blessed darkness was Medusa’s hated voice in my ear. “You’d better hope your demon lover gives my sister back to me. Or I’ll have to turn you to stone. Maybe I’ll do it anyway. You’d make a very pretty ornament for my flower garden.”
My mind fought to make sense of her words. The words tangled around each other, leaving behind only a sense of horror at their meaning. Somewhere in the depths of my consciousness I grabbed hold of the two words that scared me the most.
Demon lover.
Gods, no!
I’d rather be a statue in Medusa’s garden.
Chapter Eight
A Knight on Shining…Harpy?
I woke slowly, cracking my eyelids against a thin beam of light that managed to find its way into the cave where I lay. The cave was empty so I sat up.
My head throbbed painfully as I moved and I had to rest against the slimy wall behind me for a moment before I could push to my feet.
Pressing my hand against the wall I got my feet under me and stood. Nausea swamped me. I stood completely still for a moment, leaning against the wall, until it passed.
I listened carefully for a moment to make sure I was alone and heard only the crash and roar of the ocean outside.
I left the cave and emerged into a bright, hot sun.
A small cluster of pelicans lifted off the rocks as I moved into view. They swirled around for a few moments and then disappeared over my head, presumably to settle on the other side of the small island.
I squinted into the distance and saw only ocean. No land in sight. Looking around, I decided the island was barely a city block wide and, though it rose to a peak not too far behind me, had a fairly low profile in the water. The tallest part looked to be no taller than maybe thirty feet.
I decided to walk around the perimeter just to see how big the island was.
Not so big. It was about as deep as it was wide. Not a natural formation then. The gorgons must have created it as a prison for me.
Which meant no one would ever find me there.
Panic clenched my lungs so that I found it suddenly hard to breathe. The nausea that had threatened inside the cave returned and I retched until I thought I would die from it.
Finally my stomach stopped heaving and I sat back, wiping a shaky hand across my mouth. I lay back in the sunlight, fighting tears.
My best hope was for the gorgons to return.
Ish!
*
I lay where I was until nightfall, feeling my skin burn and blister but unwilling to go inside the cave just in case someone would pass by and I’d miss them.
Night brought bone-chilling cold to go with the damp that had permeated my clothing and my bones and I found myself in the fetal position well before morning.
As the sun started to break over the horizon, I had passed the self-pity phase and had entered the anger phase.
I decided I’d be damned if I’d just lie there and let the gorgons use me as live bait to get Damian to release their evil sister.
I surged to my feet, probably half mad at that point from sun, cold and dehydration, full of anger and nowhere to go with it.
I managed to hold on to the anger for a few hours, until about midday according to the level of the sun in the sky and then collapsed into myself again with despair.
I crawled into the cave and curled back into the fetal position, willing my body to give in to the excruciating pain being caused by lack of food and water and die.
I must have dozed.
When I woke up I just lay there for a while, listening carefully to the sounds around me as was becoming my habit. I slowly became aware of the sound of huge wings beating the air in the distance.
My first instinct was to cringe against the wall, hiding my eyes. As if that would make it go away. But my pride quickly resurfaced and I forced myself to my feet. If I was gonna die I’d go out fighting. I tried to pull my power forward to create a weapon but it didn’t work.
I was too weak.
Looking around, I found a large rock lying on the ground a few feet away. I picked it up and held it behind my back.
And walked out into the sun.
One enormous creature flew toward me, its massive wings undulating powerfully in the air currents that swirled above the roiling water. The sun played tricks with my eyes, making the thing look purple-black rather than the dark green I knew it to be.
As it neared, the sun glinted off the long, slender body and I spotted a second head behind the first. I realized it wasn’t a gorgon. And, whatever it was, somebody—or something—was riding on its back.
Friend or foe? I didn’t know but at that point my options were so limited I was willing to take a chance. Dropping the rock, I lifted my arms over my head and started jumping up and down.
The creature held to its brisk and steady course in my direction.
As it neared I finally recognized it.
“Holy shit!” I grabbed the rock off the ground again and glanced toward the cave. Did I want to trade the false comfort of a few walls for the real possibility that I’d get trapped inside with nowhere to go?
The creature stopped a few yards off the rocky shore of my small island and hovered in a nearly vertical position. All I could see of her rider was a pair of strong legs wrapped in soft, knee-high boots. The Harpy’s fang-filled face opened wide below a pair of beautiful, violet eyes as she shrieked.
I shivered and lifted the rock. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was gonna do with it against a full-grown Harpy, with a rider. But I’d try to make the most of it.
The thing hovered there, her massive wings pounding the air and creating new chop against the shoreline of my small island.
Suddenly, with another nerve-shattering scream, she dived straight toward me.
I lifted the rock and flung it toward the Harpy’s head as hard as I could.
The rock flew true to its target. It headed right for the tender spot between the monster’s eyes. I didn’t know if it would be enough to knock the huge creature out of the air but it was all I had.
At the last moment the Harpy ducked her head with a shriek of anger and a large hand, connected to a very strong arm, reached up and plucked the rock out of the air before it smacked into a very handsome—and very familiar—face.
Damian!
The Harpy landed with a grace that seemed impossible given her size and clunky build. She stood several yards away glaring at me, saliva dripping from her many rows of needle-sharp teeth.
Damian climbed down and reached into his pocket, throwing the Harpy a chunk of something that flashed green and gold in the sun before it was turned to mush in the monster’s mouth.
Then he looked at me, his dark blue eyes narrowing as if he wasn’t sure how welcome he would be. “Athena. Are you all right?”
Maybe it was the heat.
Maybe it was the fact that I hadn’t had anything to drink or eat for two days.
And maybe it was the shock of seeing him standing there.
But I’m pretty sure it was the fact that I knew my Olympian history.
I knew all about the demon guardian who rode a Harpy and kept the gorgons safely imprisoned on Olympus.
And now I knew who that guardian was.
And I’d definitely slept with him.
The world turned gray around the edges and I felt my legs giving out.
I tumbled downward but I never hit the rocky ground.
A pair of strong, warm arms stopped me before I did.
*
I sat at the table and watched Damian cook me dinner. Something with chicken, spinach and feta cheese. It smelled incredible.
I sipped from a tall glass of water and pulled the blanket closer around my shoulders. It smelled like Damian and I barely resisted the urge to bury my nose in it. I was enjoying the view.
Demon or not, Damian had the finest ass I’d ever seen.
I’d discovered that my voice didn’t work too well after going without water for two days, so I’d been content to just sit there, sipping my water and letting Damian wait on me.
But I knew we needed to talk about some things, so I tried again. Clearing my throat, I said, “How did you find me?” The words came out rough and low but Damian seemed to have heard. He turned away from the stove and set a plate in front of me. It looked as good as it smelled.